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Gayle Wilson Resigns from ICOC, Will Continue to Advise CIRM

Posted: January 3, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Gayle Wilson, a director of a commercial life science entity on the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC), resigned from the board effective January 1, 2006. She will continue to advise CIRM leadership on state and federal legislative matters.

Ms. Wilson was appointed to the ICOC by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"I have great admiration and respect for Chairman Klein and Vice-Chairman Penhoet, as well as for my fellow commissioners," Ms. Wilson wrote. "I will continue to take great pride in California for pioneering stem cell research in this country-and I remain committed to helping the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine in any way I can."

Robert Klein, Chairman of the ICOC said, "Gayle Wilson has graced this board since its beginnings with her unique experience in biotech and science education advocacy. Her outreach efforts to fully inform the stem cell debate in Washington D.C. have been invaluable-especially in moving pro-stem cell legislation forward and with advancing a scientific understanding of stem cell research and its promise for treating chronic disease. I am tremendously grateful for her service, and we have been extremely fortunate to have such a presence on the ICOC in its first year. Although Gayle can no longer serve formally as a board member, she remains an important and committed ally in helping the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine now and in the future."

Gayle Wilson's career as a community volunteer has had dual concentrations in the areas of early childhood health and math and science education at the high-school level. As California's First Lady from 1991-1999, she served as the catalyst for the establishment of the excellence-based California State Summer School for Math and Science (COSMOS) and today serves as the chair of the COSMOS advisory board. Wilson is a member of the board of directors of Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company; The Education Financing Foundation of California; and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. In addition, she is a member of the board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), serving on its Jet Propulsion Lab Committee. She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Stanford University.